Energy Technology Archives - Page 9 of 17

Planning for an All Electric Future

Jul 5, 2018 | Economics, Energy Technology, Improving Solar, Whole House Electrification

There is no doubt in my mind that the “All Electric future” is inevitable. The only question is how fast…20 or 50 or 75 years? Electric generation and storage technology is getting cheaper, while at the same time the problems with fossils fuels keep getting worse....

What are the best solar panels?

Jun 27, 2018 | Energy Technology, Solar Power System

What are the best solar panels? That’s a question we are asked all the time. When customers look for the “best” solar panels they consider efficiency, reliability, quality and cost. Cost and efficiency are closely related – all solar panels generate the same...

John Farrell on Why It Costs More For Utilities to Sell Power

May 30, 2018 | Energy Technology, Environment, Utility Companies

For over a hundred years our civilization has been getting electricity from centralized generation. This utility business model relies on remote power plants fueled originally by coal, oil and gas — and now increasingly by wind and solar. But the development of...

Can the Battery Storage Industry Avoid the Same Mistakes as the Solar Industry?

May 3, 2018 | Battery Storage Systems, Commercial Solar, Energy Technology, Solar Technology

The battery storage industry is roughly where the solar industry was in the early 2000’s. It’s a tiny market now, with fewer than 1,000 grid-tied systems installed last year. Nevertheless, technology is evolving rapidly and investor funds are pouring in. There is...

Gigawatt Scale Solar Installations

Apr 28, 2018 | Cheap Energy, Commercial Solar, Energy Politics, Energy Technology

We often talk about smaller solar power systems on homes or commercial buildings. On this week’s Energy Show we are discussing gigawatt scale solar installations. The logic is simple: solar panels are getting cheaper and installation costs are declining. At the same...

What are Microgrids?

Apr 10, 2018 | Energy Technology

We call our power system an electric “grid” because it is composed of a network of wires that move the power around from node to node – basically a combination of power sources (natural gas power plants, solar farms, nukes), wires (long distance...